In a few minutes, Rotsard and the child reached the front gate of a walled-off small town. The gate was raised… and very much unmanned…
Guards who should be stationed there either retreated to help defend the lord's mansion or joined the peasants' side...
…at least that's what Rotsard thought at the first glance, but as he slowed down while passing through and took a proper breath, the heavy rusty smell wafting from within revealed to him the third, actual, answer about the fates of the town's loyal protectors…
Also, at a first glance, the town looked normal… even though seemingly abandoned with no signs of people walking around, even in the middle of the day, with a complete lack of any sounds that should be present.
A town drowning in eerie silence.
For the senses of normal humans, at least.
"..."
Rotsard stopped and furrowed his brows at the irregular thumps resounding from the center of the town… the sound of... hundreds of hands slamming against the building walls in a mindless fashion.
"Mister, you need to hurry! The nice mister in the big house is in danger!"
"..."
The child on Rotsard's shoulder urged, making the bleached-blond-haired youth's expression turn grim.
He moved forward again, but not nearly as fast as he was going when he rushed in.
"Mister…!"
"..."
The child cried, clinging to his head in an attempt to make him hasten his pace, but Rotsard didn't respond to the plea.
"Mi-uwwawa…!"
The child tried again, but was interrupted by a sudden gust of ice-cold wind that picked up from who-know-where, making it shudder and change its words into trembling gibberish.
"AAH! Mister! Mister, stop! Stop!"
After passing a couple more buildings, the child suddenly jolted, almost falling off Rotsard's shoulders, and called out in urgency, sounding almost desperate.
"What is it?"
"...!"
Rotsard indeed stopped, and inquired, sensing the child tensing up but remaining silent.
"...?"
After a couple of seconds pass, the child relaxed, although it did tilt its head in confusion, looking around between the rooftops.
"I… I thought…"
"Thank you for being cautious for my sake~"
The child mumbled in utter confusion, making Rotsard chuckle as he started walking again.
As they moved, something odd was happening.
Despite becoming audible for someone with average human hearing, the distinct sound of thumping was getting less intense the closer Rotsard and the child got to it. Almost as if the number of the creatures creating that noise was gradually dropping.
"..."
The child on Rotsard's shoulders was getting more and more anxious, writhing in unease with each step the bleached-blond-haired youth took, looking around restlessly, but instead of ever voicing any of its concerns, it took extra care in keeping its mouth shut.
…all while the ice-cold wind, completely out of place for that time of year, blew across the empty street they walked through…
After passing just one more building, they eventually arrived at the town's center, an interesting mansion that was tall rather than wide, with five storeys. The first two used as a town hall, and the upper three for the ruling noble family house.
The building, surely a pride and centerpiece of the town, was now being swarmed by dozens, if not hundreds, of people… all mindlessly reaching out and banging on the walls, windows, and doors, sometimes climbing on top of each other just to bang on the walls from a different elevation instead of actually thinking things through.
"Haa…. just as I thought. Peasants will be peasants."
"Wh-what…!?"
Rotsard stopped, taking one good look at the scene, and sighed, shaking his head in disgust, causing the child riding on his shoulders to call out in a dumbfounded voice.
"Just look at them. Mindless rabble without an ounce of common sense. Nothing but filth! At least peasants in the villages where they have to tend to the fields are almost like commoners and show signs of intelligence. But those town and city peasants? Do you think they even know that they're alive? Has any inkling of a higher purpose shed a light on the darkness of stupidity within those empty heads of theirs?! Raising their hands against the nobles protecting them at the slightest inconvenience, blind to any semblance of reason! Disloyal filth that would sell out their families and even their kingdom for an obviously empty lie!"
"...!"
The disgust in Rotsard's voice reached a level that baffled the child into stunned silence.
"I mean… if they weren't just that, how else would any of them have got corrupted by gredwyld of a pathetic lesser deofol like yourself?
"..."
Since he continued speaking in the exact same tone, the creature with the child-like appearance riding on Rotsard's shoulders didn't react immediately, requiring a few seconds to comprehend what was said to it.